Ms. Taylor's Blog

Check out this article in Discover magazine about “The Science & The Fiction.”

Some of the labs have been filmed, and the vidoes are available under “Lab Videos” at the top of this page.

For the week of October 3,  we are studying Newton’s Third Law.  There will be a test over Newton’s three laws and gravity this Thursday.  Students should study their vocabulary and notes from class.

Newton’s Third Law is often stated: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This statement is correct, but terse and confusing. You need to understand that it means:

• “action…reaction” means that forces always occur in pairs. (Forces are interactions between objects, like conversations are interactions between people. See “Thinking About Forces… .”) Single, isolated forces never happen. The two forces involved are called the “action force” and the “reaction force.” These names are unfortunate for a couple of reasons :
  • Either force in an interaction can be the “action” force or the “reaction” force. See Identifying Action and Reaction Forces.
  • People associate “action” and “reaction” with “first an action, then a reaction” – as in, first Suzie smacks Johnnie (action) then Johnny says “Mommy! Suzie hit me!” (reaction). That is NOT what is going on here! The action and reaction forces exist at the same time.
• “equal” means two things:
  • Both forces are exactly the same size. They are equal in magnitude.
  • Both forces exist at exactly the same time. They both start at exactly the same instant, and they both stop at exactly the same instant. They are equal in time.
• “opposite” means that the two forces always act in opposite directions – exactly 180^o apart.

• 

  copyright, Gary Larson, Far Side

On this blog, we have web links that are often used in class.

Look here for information about homework, in-class assignments, and grades.  There will also be postings about field trips and special events.

Check the right-hand margin for links to educational activities that might even be a little bit fun.

Quicktime Movie of the 3 Little Pigs and Big, Bad Mr. Johnson